The Poison Beneath
by Elluxion
Summary: A young woman with murderous intent is bent on killing her very own father and cousin. Darkest of all singers by night, innocent student by day, Katereah can kill with her song.
1. Dark Singer

**The Poison Beneath  
Chapter One: Dark Singer  
Written by Elluxion **

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**Title:** The Poison Beneath: Dark Singer 

**Written by:** Elluxion 

**Date:** 11th December 

**Genre:** Horror 

**Shippings:** Sakura and Syaoran 

**Summary:** A young woman with murderous intent is bent on killing her very own father and cousin. Darkest of all singers by night, innocent student by day, Katereah can kill with her song. 

**Notes:** Wrote this story when I was Gemini Star. I'm re-writing it. ^^; I look back at the version I wrote last year and I want to jump off a cliff. 

Onegai, review! 

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The wind skirted the corridors with elegance, whispering into every nook and cranny, rooting out every piece of bare flesh, and causing the owners of the flesh to shiver. She reared back and gave a wild howl, joyful with the elation of sweeping across the castle and unsettling every speck of dust. 

She whipped the girl's hair back with a savage ferocity, as if trying to rip the girl from limb to limb. The girl did not react at all; she stood steadfast by the gray windowsill, eyes roving the storm clouds that rippled the sky above and the thin weeds that bent to the wind. 

A thunderbolt erupted from the brooding, purplish clouds, driving into a tree and causing a flurry of activity from the birds that roosted there. 

"_Katereah_," a Toran demon hissed, crouched somewhere behind the girl. With a snarl, the girl addressed whirled neatly, bestowing a glare upon the insolent demon. The Toran demon met her frosty gaze with hardly any fear in his own eyes. 

"Are you that eager to taste hell, demon?" 

Katereah returned her eyes back to the sky outside, and forked lightning streaked across the sky and struck the tree again. This time, a bluebird toppled out of the maple leaves, its body limp and dead. The vultres that had been circling the bleak, colourless sky descended on the bluebird in a frenzied flock, picking its eyes out first. All this happened at a distance, but the Toran demon was more than capable of seeing that. At the same time, the violet light that had flickered in Katereah's green eyes faded away. 

Katereah was repulsed by the Toran demon. With rolling eyes that shone like twin green neon lamps and a mouth crowded with untidy teeth, the Toran wasn't a creature of beauty. The Toran were demonic beasts with padded feet and thick, coarse grey fur spotted with black, and two horns positioned carelessly on their heads. 

This Toran demon now bent his front legs, dropping into a kneeling position. "_Mistress_ Katereah," he amended swiftly, eyes cast upon the ground. 

"_Detri fawar,_ demon." 

"Mistress, I have been sent by the Lord. The Lord wishes to see you." The demon lifted his sick green eyes to the hem of Katereah's robes, the hem that brushed against the floor. 

"Is that so?" 

"I wouldn't dare lie to you, Mistress." 

"If you did, you wouldn't be standing here now." Katereah swept past the demon with a business-like air, robes billowing into the demon's face. The Toran did not move as much as a muscle. As she reached the curtains that yielded her privacy from the rest of the castle, she tossed an offhand glance over the shoulder. "Rise, demon." 

As Katereah glided down the hallways, demons, Dark Elves, Sprites, students, sorcerers, and all the other ragged creatures that made up the Lord's force scattered to let her pass. There was something about Katereah you couldn't ignore; her self-assurance was evident and her status obvious. The hood cast shadows upon pale skin, disallowing curious onlookers from seeing her face. Slippered feet moved like liquid, and her robes were shifting folds of silk. 

And silk it was. Instead of the coarse sable material used to patch together the robes of the students and the lesser sorcerers, Katereah was clothed in a luxurious, loose expanse of darkened grey silk that shimmered and changed colours when she stepped into a more intense or weaker light. 

The girl, who could not have been more than seventeen, drew to a gradual stop in an antechamber. She opened the doors with a easy touch of her hands, and she found a pair of ornately carved rosewood doors flanked by a couple of guards that 'protected' the Lord who reclined behind those doors. These guards donned old-fashion armour that used to protect knights, probably to the Lord's quiet amusement. Katereah stepped forward, and one guard recognized her for what she was through the slits of his visor. "Mistress," he croaked in a hoarse, cracked voice, raising a hand to salute her. "My greetings and respect." 

"Good day, sir," Katereah said pleasantly. "It's nice weather, isn't it?" With a casual wave of her hand, she indicated the boiling mass of thick clouds that were alleviating their sorrow by weeping a torrential flood of rainwater. 

There was a pause. "Yes, Mistress," the guard returned respectfully. "The Lord expects you." 

"Who are you kidding?" came the indignant voice of his companion. "She is but a mere girl!" 

"Hold your silence!" the first guard spat out, but it was too late. Katereah had heard the spiteful words, and she turned her head slowly, regarding the second guard playfully, head tilted at an angle. 

"I ... I am a mere girl?" Katereah repeated, a smile fleeting across her lips. Raising her hands, she slowly pulled the hood back to reveal an innocent, girlish face. "Why, I suppose so, sir." 

"Exactly," the guard proclaimed in satisfaction. "No one is allowed to disturb the Dark Lord, girl. Especially if you're only a student." 

"So I look like a student?" 

"Obviously." 

"Do you think I fight like a student too?" 

"You don't have the ability to kill a caterpillar." 

"I think I do," Katereah said slowly, each word heavy with the import of its meaning. Her eyes flared dangerously, and a deadly silence fell upon the chamber as the flares flickered uneasily. 

The chant stirred from her softly. 

_"I am in the lighted darkness,   
I am in the darkened light.   
I am not what you think - helpless,  
My appearance will mar your sight."_

The summoned bolt of lightning sent shards of glass spraying over the chamber. It crashed through the pane of glass situated high on a stone wall, and paused as if waiting for commands. 

_"Yete fawar guite, ijan e refor kei!"_

The first guard watched fearfully as he worked to decode the translation from the Lord's Ancient Language to normal Mankind speech. His eyes widened as the words took place in his mind: _My good friend, attack thee before me_ was what she had said. 

The bolt ripped through the second guard mercilessly, giving him no time to scream or react. There was a sharp snap, as if one had slapped a whip against the floor, and a wisp of smoke that indicated something was burning. The scent of charred flesh wafted to his nostrils. 

"Oh, Gods," the first guard murmured, his knees suddenly weak. The second guard, the one Katereah had attacked, lay on the floor, writhing in pain as the electricity licked his senses. With a sudden jerk, the bolt dissipated into the ether, and the guard let out a cry of relief. He opened his eyes to a sea of darkness. 

Katereah watched carefully, even though she had felt the sudden, satisfactory tug that she had performed a successful spell. _Yes, here it comes_, she thought happily. 

The guard flipped his visor up to reveal a meaty face, but his once-blue eyes were now colourless and sightless. "Oh, Gods," he echoed the first guard. "I can't see! _I can't see!_" 

"That's just the beginning," Katereah said with an air of indifference. She raised one hand, and the mace that hung upon the wall as a decorative item flung itself forward, impaling its body upon the guard's neck. With a scream that haunted his friend's dreams forever, the vulnerable, exposed skin ripped into two, and the neck bones shattered. Crimson blood spewed out like a grisly fountain of death as the head bounced once on the floor and rolled to a stop. 

Katereah shrugged, stepping over the fallen body. She gave a nod to the other guard. "It _is_ a wonderful day." She smiled quietly as she heard the cawing that indicated the presence of the Ytelde. The living guard could only stare blankly as the wicked black birds swarmed over the body, so much like vultres. 

The lock on the doors sprang open at her gentle touch and she stepped through, swinging the doors shut behind her. 

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x__________________________x; 

Tooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowery  
tooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowery  
tooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowery  
tooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowerytooflowery! 

Waaaay too many descriptions. *sinks back* Go ahead, flame me. T-T 

Oh well... it should be better than the first chapter I wrote as Gemini Star, so what the heck. --; 

Hugs and cookies,  
Elluxion

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	2. Memory's Tang

**The Poison Beneath  
Chapter Two: Memory's Tang  
Written by Elluxion**

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Review, people, review. ;) If you're interested, look up Gemini Star, read the old version, read this one, and compare. I will accept critiques (in fact, _do_ critique, I'll love you for it) but flames will conveniently get mixed up with my toilet paper. Oh, and the person who figures out what _detri fawar_ means will get a dedication and a sackful of chocolates. ;D 

Hugs and cookies,  
Elluxion

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Kinomoto Sakura blinked. 

_God, it's a crime to be up at this time._ She allowed her lashes to fall back onto her cheeks lazily, feeling the warmth of the bed cocoon her. Mentally, her schedule drifted through her mind. 

Katereah propped herself up on one elbow, annoyed gaze directed at the sleepy Clow Mistress. _Powerful as you are, you're still bone-lazy._ Feeling the folds of the silk nightdress she was forced to don rustle gently against her skin, the dark sorceress's scowl deepened. _I can't believe I have to wear this... skimpy thing that's practically non-existent!_

Watching as the ex-Card Captor toss fitfully in her bed, Katereah shoved her covers back and heaved a deep sigh. 

It was another long day. 

She padded off into the bathroom, where she stared miserably at herself in the mirror. How she detested the fake appearance she was forced to wear! 

Several minutes later, she pushed the door of the bathroom open, and once she saw Sakura awake, she arranged her features into what passed for a welcoming smile. "Good morning, Sakura!" she chirped cheerfully, hoping that she wasn't going to retch. 

"'Morning," Sakura offered with a half-smile as she stumbled into the bathroom. As the door clicked shut, Katereah immediately switched into another growl, poking at her outfit suspiciously. A prissy white dress finished off with a hem of delicate frills - revolting. High-heeled, pristine white shoes - Katereah shuddered to think of the damage it was causing to her backbone and posture. Mascara and blusher and lipstick slathered on - goop that the world would do better without. Hair carefully arranged in flowing curls - it made her sculp itch at the thought of all the effort she had to put into it. 

It was damn uncomfortable. Katereah was slender, but the outfit hugged her figure in a way she considered - there was no other word for it - _slutty_. Even though she was used to these clothes that her false form wore; even though she steeled herself for it daily, Katereah favoured the soft fabric of the loose, flowing robes and tunic she had been wearing since she was ten. 

As the sound of the tap turned on full-blast reached her, Katereah remembered, her mind floating back to the past. 

_A young girl, who looked about eight but who was, in truth, already ten, looked unseeingly out of her orphanage window. Locked inside her was years of bitter hate and defiance, and her sharp green eyes betrayed the emotions she was battling. _

Having lost both her parents - her mother at birth, her father in a car accident - Kinomoto Hekiu was spitefully taunted at school for not having any parents or even a guardian. She was also mocked for those strange green eyes, sharp and intense, eyes which they said belonged to a witch. 

Hekiu was breaking a handful of rules, being out of bed after lights-out, disregarding the warning about not going too near the window, stealing out of her dormitory late at night. But she didn't care. Hekiu was a rule-breaker. She didn't toe the line and she didn't care to. 

The ten-year-old never showed emotion except boredom, amusement and, of course - anger. 

Then suddenly she attended to what she was looking at, and drew back in shock before composing her features to a neutral one again. A girl, same age as she, silhouetted against the face of the full moon, on a strange stick the length of a broom. Hovering next to her was some kind of warped teddy-bear with bizarre wings stuck onto its back. 

Hekiu continued watching until the moonlight no longer permitted her to do so. Then, shaking her head, she rose and prepared to return to her dormitory. Her movements were strangely regal. 

Then a hiss resounded in the air, shattering the peaceful silence into a million pieces. 

"Your anger... " Soft as the shadow of a maple leaf, cold as the north wind, the whisper penetrated Hekiu's hearing easily. Her head snapped up, instantly on the alert. She felt fear bubbling up inside of her, making her break out in cold sweat, but she carefully quashed any glint of emotions in her eyes. 

"It's delightful," murmured the owner of the voice, clearly male. Something stirred within a dark corner, all fluid movement and shadow. Hekiu swivelled her head to face off with that corner, crouched in a stance that indicated she was ready to fight if she had to. "Who are you?" she demanded clearly, her voice unfaltering, yet she could feel the fear root deeply in her heart. Hekiu didn't believe in shadows that went bump in the night, but she knew about kidnappers and murderers and all the disgusting things the world faced. 

"You're scared, aren't you?" he asked in a tone that could almost be described as gentle. "At least, you should be. I can't tell... you hide your emotions well. Exceptional." 

Detaching himself from the corner, Hekiu glanced up to see a man that was well-built, hooded and hidden by a cloak and shadows. 

She closed her eyes, trying to still her trembling as he walked around her, surveying her in the pale moonlight that filtered through the window. 

The Dark One nodded in satisfaction. She was beautiful. And she should be - the child of one of the most powerful entities in the universe, cousin of Clow Reed's successor, she seemed to be made of magic itself. Vivid green eyes, shaded by long lashes that curled naturally. Silken locks of dark hair, spilling across one shoulder as if it had a mind of its own. Delicate nose, and full lips the color of sakura blossoms. Swanlike neck, which she arched gracefully to counter his gaze in defiance. Soft ivory skin, almost translucent in the cold moonlight that played upon it. 

"I am known as the Dark One, the Dark Lord," he advised. Taking a deep breath, he proceeded to explain about the Clow Book and the Card Captor. The girl listened, enthralled at his tales, skeptical, yet wanting to believe him. He said that she would be placed into the Card Captor's memory as one of her friends, but it was simply her false form. He paused in his tales as he told her about the power she would be granted. "You will then be placed into the Card Captor's memory as a friend, who knows about the Clow Cards. The true friend will be... taken care of. Will you do it?" 

A heartbeat's pause, then she nodded, still on guard, still wary. "I will - that is, if all this isn't some kind of lie." 

"I grant you that it isn't." 

"How do I believe that you are speaking the truth?" 

"I control the elements of this world, dark singer." 

"I am no singer." 

"You have never tried." A smile played around the corners of the Dark One's lips. "See what I can do." 

The Dark Lord directed his gaze at the moon outside the window, hands sketching strange symbols with the air as canvas. Clouds began to bubble, to boil and to shroud the moon until it was completely dark. Thunder rumbled and lightning rent the sky in two. 

"Child's play," he snickered, looking at the young girl who watched - fearless, it seemed. Emotionless. 

Amazing. 'Stan has raised her poorly,' thought the Dark Lord ruefully. 'I was expecting a challenge; someone pure and uncorrupted. Yet she is already perfect, darker than anyone I have ever known... save myself.' 

Aloud, his words were different. "If you do not trust me on that count, why don't you sing?" As he spoke, he gave his hand a careless wave, muffling the sounds that they were both making. "Sing for the rain, for a thunderstorm. Let the clouds part and the sky open, and let a torrent of water fall onto the earth." 

The words were poetical, almost hypnotizing, aimed to relax her and to lighten her guard. But she seemed as tense as ever before, her eyes focused. 'She doesn't even need to be trained,' thought the Dark One. 

She lifted her voice, and sang, notes harsh and metallic, speaking in a language she didn't even know. She must have been shocked, surprised; again, her face was a mask of normality and even a vague boredom. Her eyes were unreadable. It was as if she had draped a veil across her emotions. 

The gods of rain then were compelled, and the surge of magic was, without doubt, stunningly present and evident. Rain became hail, and the spattering of hailstones against the roof seemed to shake her from her reverie. 

"Will you follow me now?" 

Knowing what she was capable of, Kinomoto Hekiu nodded. He held her and she stiffened in his arms. With a flick of his fingers the windows opened and he leapt through, into the darkness. 

He released her instantly after they hit the ground, both falling into a roll that came to them instinctively. He protected her through glass and cement, man's creation, but as raindrops, hard as needles, and hailstones, attacked her relentlessly, magic's play, Hekiu was on her own. She shielded herself as best she could, before she found that no pain was coursing through her. She lifted her face. The rainwater's tang was bitter, but it was rejuvinating. It was magical, and she had created that magic. 

"Your name will be Katereah." Even though the Dark Lord was speaking in a whisper, she heard the words as clearly as if he was shoulder. He stole away into the night, using the shadows for cover as if it was second nature. Hekiu followed, surprised that she was doing the same. 

"My dearest dark singer." 

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Woohoo! Another chapter done. I adore re-writing - it's so much easier than finding a plot and sculpting the characters, since I've done that before! *grin* 

Well, review, I want to see how the idea of a horror-genre CCS fic sits with everyone. ;) (On that note, check out **White Mist Wolf**'s CCS fics - she's prolly the only horror-CCS writer in the CCS fandom save me. XDD 

Oh, and if you read Harry Potter, do take a peek at _Carcrashes_ and _Spitfire_. :D 

Hugs and cookies,  
Elluxion

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